LE CASTELLET, France — Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz will take a grid penalty at the French Grand Prix after exceeding his quota of power unit components for the year.
Sainz retired from the Austrian Grand Prix with an engine fire, damaging the power unit in his car beyond repair.
Ahead of first practice at this weekend’s French Grand Prix, the FIA confirmed Ferrari had fitted Sainz’s car with a new energy store — the battery for the hybrid system — and control electronics, the latter of which was his third control electronics of the season and takes him beyond the year-long quota of two per car.
Using a third set of control electronics for the year will result in a 10-place penalty, but Ferrari may opt to add more fresh components and incur further penalties later in the weekend.
Teams often run an older, higher-mileage engine in Friday practice to preserve mileage on a race engine that is fitted from Saturday practice onwards. If Ferrari fit a fresh engine later in the weekend, Sainz will incur more penalties and fall to the back of the grid.